how efficient are you?

if you're producing for an artist, starting from scratch, how long (on average) does it take for you to make a beat (with them present), get their shit written, and lay down their vocals? as in, how long per song?

what about recording sessions where they already have their shit together and you're just facillitating their recording? how strict are you on vocalists/emcees as far as time goes.... do you let them take as many takes as they want? or do u try 2 direct them so that they're as efficient as possible with their time?

It usually depends on the rapper...me, I rap too and I usually take between 1-3 takes...now, this dude I'm workin with at the moment took 174 takes...FOR ONE VERSE!!!!
so that shit took all day to finish the song cuz man after 15 takes I was already heated so we kept havin to take breaks and shit

With a 1 take emcee...from start to finish it may take 1-2 hours with a good hook, adlibs and a solid mix cuz the i usually have the emcee start writin b4 the beat is completely finished...when I'm producing for myself it doesnt take quite as long

If the artist is in the room as soon as I start, its like 2-5 hours. I might spend like 45 minutes on the beat, then the come in and start to write. During that time i'm fine tuning. We're working out how we're gonna arrange the song.

From having nothing to having a beat going and lyrics written is like 1.5-2.5 hours usually. Less if its someone I know, more if not. Recording usually takes about 1-1.5 hours unless the person doesn't know what they're doing. Then you might be there, like someone else said, doing 50 takes on a 4 bar rap. [rant]I read a XXL magazine where they went back and talked in detail about every song on Pac's "All Eyez on Me" CD. I remember something where someone was like, "Pac was the kind of cat where if you couldn't lay down at least 8 bars of a song within 4 takes, you shouldn't be in the studio." I feel that way 100%. Thats one thing I need to work on, cuz doing insane amounts of punches and retakes annoys me quickly. To me, its like anybody can rap... its just rhyming words. But I can tell the different between a rapper and an actual artist by how they are in the studio. I like the cats who come through, maybe take 3 takes just to get warmed up, but after that every track is pretty much first takes. You get to be more creative as an engineer/producer when you can pitch an idea and get to hear it seconds later as opposed to pitching it out there, and 20 minutes later the cat is still trying to lay it down and you're just like, "fuck it" for the rrest of the session.[/rant]

If its someone I'm cool with, I take another good hour to go back and add breakdowns to the beat and really try to perfect it so it breaks down where it needs to or changes where its supposed to. If its someone I don't really care about outside of finances, the beat stays as is.

Mixing can take from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on how much I care about the song.

on some real. sickvision i feel what you saying but i dont agree. the reason is because well with me im a PERFECTIONIST. im talkin. i want it perfect. if im producing it its gonna be exactly how I think it should sound. i be makin ³³³³³s do takes for various reasons. sometimes i dont like how they said a particular word. or maybe not enough emphasis on a certain word or phrase. im crazy like that. But most cats arent so i guess they can do it in a few takes. my thing is if i can imagine it better then i want it done better.

usually when im in front of an artist it doesnt take long for a complete rough draft. because once i get the basics of the beat down i make it a song loop and burn it. have them put on headphones and hook it to my stereo and listen through there and start writing. by the time they are done im done fine tuning and adding everything to the beat. then its recording. which takes the longest. im known to make artist do up to 94 takes on one verse.

as long as it takes...for real...until that shit sounds perfect....pretty much what premize said.......rappers hate that shit specifically......cause they think they 100% on point all the time and let thier ego's get in the way of thier performance...so you tell em......yo that was kinda weak...do it again....and they start gettin aggrivated....then you gotta lay down the law and tell em......you basically do it right or you dont do it at all.......ive been HOURS in the studio with 1 artist just for 1 song......dont matter........gotta keep movin till the shit is flawless

true. i share the pac philosophy on the shit though. knock it out in as few takes as possible, sit it real, cuz the cats that LOVE to be in the studio can mess with lil kicks and breakdowns and shit later on. i used to feel the emcee was more important than the producer, but with the latest shit ive messed wit, i feel they're equal. a dope beat is a soundtrack 4 something, but u need words 2 make it perfect. street poetry is great, but without a beat, it doesn't hold someones attention as well.

hour and a half is bout the same 4 me, and mixing doesn't take me real long. maybe 20 minutes for a rough mix, an hour for a final, master-ready mix.

At 59 takes i'm ready to just refund people their money. I'm really impatient when it comes to people not being able to record. All you gotta do is write your shit. Go home, stand in a mirror and rap it over a beat over and over and over again.

The studio isn't the practice place. Home is where you should practice. The studio is game time. Thats how I feel at least.